Charles Barkley says he’s retiring from TV as TNT’s rights battle with NBA drags on

Former NBA star Charles Barkley announced that he will be retiring from TV broadcasting after the upcoming basketball season.

Barkley, who currently appears on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” broke the news during a June 14, 2024, broadcast.

“There’s been a lot of noise around our network the last few months. I just wanna say, I’ve talked to all of the other networks, but I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT. But, I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is gonna be my last year on television,” he said.

Such a retirement could come at the same time Warner Bros. Discovery and TNT Sports, the parents of “Inside,” lose their lucrative NBA rights deal, likely to NBC, Amazon and Disney, though discussions are still ongoing and WBD could maintain a small selection of games.

“Charles is a hall of famer and broadcasting icon who is and will always a beloved member of the TNT Sports family. We’re looking forward to another fantastic NBA on TNT season and further discussion of our future plans with him,” read a statement issued by TNT Sports after the announcement.

That last line could hint that the network may be trying to keep Barkley around, though no specific role was mentioned, especially if it loses the NBA.

It’s also not uncommon for networks to have discussions with talent even after they have announced an exit. This can be done to block that talent from landing at a rival and WBD, with its vast broadcasting empire, could likely find other ways to use Barkley on air.

It’s also not unheard of for retirement announcements from TV talent (and sports stars for that matter) to be reversed later. In some cases, making such an announcement can be seen as a bluff for negotiation purposes, though there’s no solid indication that’s what Barkley intends here.

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Barkley recently tried his hand in the news talk show format, appearing beside “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Gayle King on “King Charles” for CNN, another WBD property.

That show, which CNN had billed as a limited series, ended amid poor ratings.